Portland offers new civil rights protections for atheists and agnostics

(MARCH 1, 2019) Citizens of the United States have many freedoms. These freedoms are protected in the Bill of Rights, which is part of the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, for example, protects the freedom of religion.

There are many different religions in the United States. Some people, however, are not religious. They are atheist or agnostic. An atheist believes there is no god. An agnostic is someone who believes that humans cannot know if a god exists or not.

There are also many forms of religious discrimination. This happens when people are treated unfairly because they have particular spiritual beliefs. Discrimination can also happen when there is unfair treatment of a person who is not religious. In other words, a person who is atheist or agnostic may not be treated equally as someone who is religious.

Portland now has a new law to protect atheists and agnostics from discrimination. It is the second city in the country to do this. (The first was Madison, Wisconsin.) City Commissioner Amanda Fritz introduced the idea. The city council voted unanimously to accept it.

“The proposed changes to our civil rights code may seem like a minor tweak, but they are significant for the many many Portlanders who identify as non-religious,” Fritz says. “Remarkably, I have not received one email against this proposal.”

Almost one-third of Oregonians say they are atheist or agnostic, according to data from the Pew Research Center. Portland was the most non-religious city in America in 2015.

The new statute, which is a kind of local law, prohibits discrimination by employers, landlords, and places of public accommodation (such as hotels and restaurants). Religious facilities are not included in this law.